Our three-legged cat was a true hunter – in his own mind, anyway. He was 99% indoors but snuck out whenever he could. I once saw him launch out after a deer.
He was still catching (but not killing) indoor mice until a couple of weeks before he died at age 17.
Would you be able to take in a farm cat/kitten from someone else? Would likely really raise the chances of it being a killer, rather than getting one from a shelter (as much as I do promote adopting from shelters).
Cats can all be happy inside, especially if they’re kept that way from the beginning. How can they miss what they’ve never experienced? Play with an indoor cat, let it exercise, and it’ll be absolutely fine.
Honestly I don’t care much about birds, but I DO care about my cat, and I care about him not meeting a grisly end via larger animal, car or antifreeze. He’s even less likely to become sick staying indoors. Sure, you can have the odd outdoor cat that lives to be 17, but the chances of that are far less likely than for an indoor cat. And I’d rather give my cat the best chance of a long life.
Well, all I can say is, our vet advised us to keep the latest kitty cat in till at least six months - which seemed reasonable to us - and we gave it a red-hot go. Her escape-artistry was too much for us. First got out at age three months. From then, got progressively harder and harder to catch her and bring her back in each time (she’d see us coming, and spending all day inside was not on her to-do list for the day). Can’t remember if we made it all the way to six months or said “fuck it” at five or so.
We have windows. She sees the humans going in and out. She sees all the other cats on the street going about their business. She ain’t stupid. Of course a cat can be interested in what they see.
Forgive me for being that guy, but why should I care? Last time I checked, neither sparrows nor whatever else Maui can get his jaws on are on any endangered species list. We’re not running out of birds in southeastern Missouri.
Yeah, I honestly don’t care. Cats deserve to be let outdoors if the local conditions are right, and in some cases even then they aren’t, for the mental health of the cat. If we are going to give a shit about birds, first we’ll need to stop building glass skyscrapers.
Recent article about the large decline in bird populations in North America:
Yeah, guess there is nothing we can do until we bulldoze cities. Once we are done with that, then we can move onto other bird killers, but pet cats are at the end of that list. :rolleyes:
I do feel bad about the baby birds my cat eats (and yes, they’re all juveniles). And no, it isn’t thousands, but maybe dozens per year, though he’s only four and already his hunting is slowing down a lot. He also eats baby rabbits like crazy, but I don’t care so much about them.
I may consider putting a bell on his collar. But I’m not going to consider locking him inside. That’s insane. I’m sure I would be safer cooped up indoors 24/7 too, but I don’t want to be. And I can guarantee you my cat doesn’t want to be indoors all the time. Why should I involuntarily imprison my friend?
Personally, I believe that keeping a cat locked indoors (excepting some exceptional circumstances) is unethical. My cat goes crazy if I keep her shut in, and will always try to snake through the crack in the door as I leave, in a desperate bid for freedom. I think some posters here underestimate the intelligence of cats; they are clever animals, and smart enough to know if they are being kept a prisoner.
Cats are (to varying degrees) roaming animals, and need their territory. To keep a cat locked up is no better than to keep a chimpanzee or an elephant in a cage. Better not to have a cat at all if you can’t let it outside.
But, with that said, I think you should have a cat. They have lived by our side for thousands of years. A true friend to humanity, and one of the few examples of a self domesticating animal. Just have sharks have their pilot fish, so we have our cats!
We must protect nature, yes. But lets face it, people do more harm to nature than cats could ever do. From what I see splattered along the side of UK motorways, I think cars kill far more wildlife that cats. Why not look at cutting back cars first?
then the ethical solution is to not have a cat as a pet instead of turning it out there to slaughter native animals.
nope. they’re native to Africa, invasive, and devastating.
You’re talking about humans, right?
Once upon a time, we had a huge population of people, cats and birds around here. Things were fine up until a couple of decades ago, then West Nile virus hit and suddenly there wasn’t a bird in sight. They’ve been coming back slowly. I don’t believe the cats have any effect on bird populations.
When I was a kid we had outdoor cats, but now I wouldn’t feel right letting my cat out. It’s only that I don’t want something bad to happen to her. Of course, our cat has always been afraid to go outside. She is now eighteen and has medical treatment five times a week. She still seems happy, but she’s been an old lady most of her life.
Problem with that is that you are making your cat an easy target for predators, making it harder for them to hide and to quick run through brush to get away. For my cat I made sure it was not noise making, non reflecting, and dark color. The reason for the collar was to activate her cat door, so could’t use a breakaway. As for birds, my cat is a mouser which she proudly brings home to me. I don’t think she ever brought home a bird.
Them too.
In fairness your cat is not the primary threat, habitat issues are. But every little bit hurts. Besides it was such an easy target you painted for me - sparrow, southeastern Missouri ;).
Well, as long as your ok with it. You should call the journal Science and tell them that you’re not running out of birds, it will be a relief.
Predators gotta predate. It’s the circle a life.
I dunno - I live in a city with huge amounts of well-fed street cats and huge amounts of birds, which means that somehow, a state of equilibrium seems to have been achieved. Of course, I live in the Middle East, which is the cat’s natural habitat, and I’m sure the birds here have adapted to them. In fact, one major problem we have here is invasive bird species, like budgies and mynas. Hopefully the cats will help keep their numbers down.
So, win-win!
Seeing birds outside has less than zero to do with global population declines, especially when you have no idea whether you are seeing an invasive species which is one of the few that thrives in human-constructed environments or some rarity.
Once again, I will point out, in a calm, reasoned, fact-infused manner, for those who have no consciousness of the almost infinitely complex web of life which enables and supports all human beings no matter how bizarrely artificially they might themselves live: you have no fucking idea how much it matters that bird and insect populations are plummeting. You have no fucking idea. Yes, it is a first sign of the end of the world, at least of the world that sustains human beings.
Yes, predators eat birds. What does it matter if some of those predators happen to live with humans who give them cutesy names? If anything, the ecological imbalance is probably that there are fewer predators now than there should be, since we’ve hunted the wild ones to near extinction.